Tea With Eva
by smolTITAN118
Summary: Darren's stress levels start to manafest themselves physically as holding his fireteam together proves to be a bigger task than he bargained for.


Darren Vol's eye was twitching nervously. _Seriously, not again…_ He thought exasperatedly.

"Merin, do we have any more of those sedatives from Tess? I'll ascend if i meditate another minute, and my eye still isn't right."

"No, i'm sorry." Merin said. "You took the last of them after lunch. I can requisition more…"

Darren shook his head. "I'll have to find something else in the meantime."

He closed his book, rubbing his temples. He stepped out of his reading alcove into the Bazaar...and was promptly hit with a snowball.

He blinked and wiped slush out of his face.

"You juvenile twats!" He yelled at the nearest guardians.

They quickly skittered away; perhaps it had been an accident, but now he'd never know.

He kicked and almost tripped over some Dawning ribbon decorations that coiled up around his ankles like snakes, and stumbled over to Eva Levante's stand.

Even being so close to the ramen shop, the smell of cookies was overpowering.

"Darren, my dear! How are you today?" Eva reached out and squeezed his hand kindly. She was the kindly, grandmother-type of the tower.

"Actually Ms. Eva, i've been better…" Darren sighed. "Is there a chance you have anything for stress?"

He sank into the welcoming arms of one of her overly cushy chairs.

"You poor thing! Of course! Tea alright?"

Darren nodded. "To start, at least. I'm this close to bartering with Shaxx for some of his Eliksni ale; I hear it knocks you out in two shots."

Eva smiled and shook her head. "Start with tea. Cream or sugar?"

Darren shook his head. "No, thankyou ma'am."

"Taste and tell me what you think…" Evan handed him a large mug and Darren took a long sip.

"You're a treasure." He smiled. "It's perfect."

Eva sat across from him. "Your eye doesn't look quite right, dear...Can your ghost help you with that?"

Darren shook his head. "No ma'am. It's purely stress-related."

Eva's eyes widened. "You need to take some time off...or your ghost will really have to do a number on you!"

"It's not the job, ma'am." Darren shook his head. "The entire Red Legion would hardly be as much of a challenge as my fireteam."

Eva nodded knowingly. "Ahh, yes...I almost forgot your grieving Titan. Poor girl. How long has it been?"

Darren took another sip of his tea. "Months. Don't get me wrong, Ms. Eva, I miss Reno-13 very much. But Jayla...Jayla's been taking it to a whole new level, and then there's the Hunter…"

"So Zavala did assign someone to your team after all?" Eva confirmed.

"Yes...and Jayla's honestly throwing a tantrum at this point. I've been in her fireteam a long time and i love her very much...but she's making me want to pull my hair out."

Eva nodded sympathetically. "So you're all that's holding the team together now."

"Basically." Darren sighed. "Just trying to keep those two from killing eachother. L.J's not a bad guy, even. But Jayla refuses to accept him…in any way."

Eva nodded again. "It really sounds like you're doing all you can and then some, dear. What your titan needs is time."

"MORE?" Darren sighed.

"The process of grieving, healing, and learning what life looks like after a loss is different for everyone. What would make it worse is if she doesn't feel like she has the space, the understanding or the comfort to process what has happened. Does she have a lot of other friends?"

Darren shook his head after a moment. "Does automatic matchmaking in the Crucible count? She definitely doesn't have anyone like Reno-13."

Eva nodded knowingly. "It probably took her a while to be close with him, even."

Darren nodded as well. "They knew eachother for years; almost as long as she's known her ghost."

"Life has burned your titan hard, dear." Eva said sadly. "The Sky has blessed her with a strong personality and a bold spirit. Those qualities don't make friends easily, and when they are taken, especially in a traumatic way, it creates an even larger fracture than most of us experience during a loss. She needs your strength...and i'd be willing to bet, the strength of your new hunter too."

Darren looked uncertain as he finished his tea. "L.J? He's a nice guy, but even if she didn't hate him and refuse to speak to him 80% off the time, they're not quite eachothers'...types."

The timer rang on her cookies and Eva stood up. She took the empty mug from Darren's hand and patted his shoulder gently. "Sometimes, opposites attract. I'll be thinking about you and your fireteam. I hope the Light will show you the way in this dark time. Keep in touch; let me know how it all turns out."


End file.
